White Feather

Moviecut—White Feather

It had been years since I'd seen this film. It has been subject of a recent discussion by members of the Jeffrey Hunter group that I have just recently become a member of . As a previous reviewer commented, I would also buy it when and if it becomes available on video. Along with Seven Cities of Gold, it is one of Jeffrey Hunter's earliest outstanding performances, which he seldom gets the credit he deserves. As with most of the films that Hunter appears in with RJ Wagner, he gets short shrift. His performance as "Little Dog" is sensitive and realistic. Bearing in mind that the film was made in 1955,when the prevailing thought was "the only good Indian... well,you know, White feather stands up better than most.

Looked at this on TV as just another western but found myself admiring the camera-work, scenery and performances. Though the direction was at times unexciting, the story was well told and dignified by a good performance by Wagner, so very handsome that it is no wonder the young squaw wants her first kiss with him. Jeffery Hunter, so overlooked but always worth watching, looking incredibly fit (sad to think he died just 4 years later) gave a very strong performance as the head-strong son of the chief, (reminds me of Sal Mineo in Cheyenne Autumn (same story?)) who rides around with Hugh O Brian (Wyatt Earp as an native American!). at the end the scenes between Wagner and Hunter are poignant and stay with you. The sad face of the chief says it all. The film was just a bit overlong and drags in parts which meant I missed bits that I should not have done, but there are some magnificent scenery and cavalry and Indian charges.

White Feather might be a progressive western for its time. The main speaking native American roles are played by white actors. Josh Tanner (Robert Wagner) is involved in a prospective peace pact with the Cheyenne Indians in Wyoming in the 1870s. The Cheyenne will agree to leave their hunting grounds. However a few natives are not happy with the treaty being negotiated. The feather in the works is when when Appearing Day (Debra Paget) falls for Tanner causing friction. The story treads a similar ground with other movies such as Broken Arrow. It goes for a sympathetic portrayal of the Cheyennes. The director makes good use of the location shooting in Durango, Mexico with some epic looking tribe scenes. The film is rather leaden and weary. By the end it is all rather trite.

Robert Wagner( Josh Tanner) was climbing up the ladder of success in this movie and gave an excellent performance along with Debra Paget(Appearing Day) and even Noah Berry, Jr.(Lt. Ferguson)(son of the famous Wallace Berry of the 1930's and 40's) The photography was fantastic and the plot was not just one of those typical Western films. In many ways, this picture made you feel very sorry for the Native Americas of this country who lost their wonderful land and Buffalo and had to locate South in very barren lands. Try to catch this movie on TV and you will definitely enjoy the youthful face of Robert Wagner along with great actors and a wonderfully made film of 1955!

As much as there are a lot of Indian characters. Some of them are even friendly. Sure they are not all savages anymore. But sadly, most if not all of the speaking parts are played by white actors speaking in broken Indianese. Maybe they got the non-speaking parts. Some will call it progressive, taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back. But it's very distracting. Not only is the speaking style distracting, but the acting style, the sets, the mannerisms. Everything is old timey Hollywood Indian acting. The story itself doesn't flow. It meanders as they argue about peace, 'play games', and get sidetracked by a love story. There is no flow to the story. It's not like there's a mission or a job that drives the story to its climax. It's all very annoying to me. The melodramatic music, the over-acting, the stale directions, the rambling story, and Robert Wagner is just a little better than a pretty face.